LAWYER MAY BE CALLED TO TESTIFY IN MURDER TRIAL

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 11, 1993                   TAG: 9302110218
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: By KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium
LAWYER MAY BE CALLED TO TESTIFY IN MURDER TRIAL
An attorney for Paul W. Morehead, who is charged with the capital murder of Lorna Crockett, wants to subpoena the attorney for Morehead's former girlfriend to testify at Morehead's trial.
Jeff Rudd said Wednesday he plans to file a motion to subpoena Joe Painter, a Blacksburg lawyer representing Katina Zelenak. Rudd said he is concerned about the effect Painter may have had on Zelenak and her latest statement regarding Morehead's involvement in Crockett's death.
Morehead, 21, Zelenak, 20, and William Ray Smith Jr., 19, are all charged with robbing, abducting and murdering Crockett on June 1. Crockett, a mother of three, was abducted while making a night bank deposit for Shoe Show, a Christiansburg store she managed.
The two men are charged with capital murder. Zelenak testified at a September preliminary hearing that each man fired a shot at Crockett.
Rudd told Circuit Judge Kenneth Devore Wednesday that Zelenak's first several statements to police did not implicate Morehead to the extent her latest statement has.
The murder charge against Morehead was upgraded to capital murder at the preliminary hearing.
Rudd said he also was concerned about the number of times Painter had visited with Zelenak at the jail. Rudd said Painter had made at least 70 visits in the three months before her preliminary hearing.
`I think arguably his testimony may become important," Rudd said later Wednesday, in determining when Zelenak gave her latest account of the killing.
Rudd told Devore there was "good reason to believe . . . Mr. Painter thinks he's causing her to remember [but] she's actually manipulating him."
Rudd said his concerns are not meant to malign Painter, but to determine the extent of his involvement.
"Isn't that awful that I wanted to gain my client's trust and get to the truth," Painter said Wednesday afternoon when asked about Rudd's complaints.
Painter said his co-counsel, Randy Jones, probably has been with him to visit Zelenak on 30 to 40 occasions.
Rudd also told Devore he wanted to determine whether there were any ethical violations if Painter has arranged to pay for the services of a psychiatrist who is examining Zelenak when there is no hope of later recovering that cost.
Rudd said he had been told that Painter personally had hired a psychiatrist to help resolve differences in her statements.
Painter said he has not hired a psychiatrist, but has paid $250 to a clinical social worker who has met with Zelenak and is an expert in sexual trauma. Painter believes Zelenak was dominated by Morehead, was fearful of him, and had been a victim of sexual abuse earlier in her life.
Painter said there is no violation because he expects to recover that cost. He said he personally plans to ask the Virginia State Bar Association's ethics' committee to look into the matter.
Rudd said he planned to file the motion seeking to subpoena Painter by next week.
Rudd's comments came while arguing other motions he had filed in Morehead's behalf. Devore denied a motion to suppress statements Morehead made to Montgomery County investigators about the murder.
Rudd suggested Morehead's will had been overcome after police made repeated attempts to interview him from the early morning hours of June 2 until later that afternoon, when he was interviewed by Investigator Bill Tolley of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office.
Rudd argued that Tolley should have determined why earlier interviews were broken off, contending that Morehead did not want to talk without a lawyer present.
But Morehead signed several papers indicating he had been read his rights by officers and did agree to the interview with Tolley, which was taped.
Morehead testified for the first time Wednesday, but only about the circumstances of being interviewed in Blacksburg and Montgomery County.
"I didn't know what to think about what was going on," Morehead said. "I'd never been arrested in my life."
Morehead said he had not slept for 36 hours and had not eaten for two days when he gave the statement to Tolley.
"I was having a nicotine fit and I was worried about Tina," Morehead said.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB